Fitzgerald has the game of his life

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Superman couldn't play Saturday night. A nagging left hamstring kept Anquan Boldin from bursting out of the phone booth and flying to the rescue.

Good thing for the Cardinals they have another dynamic caped crusader.

With their gladiator receiver stuck on the sideline, the Cardinals turned to their slick, jumping-jack wideout, Larry Fitzgerald, who responded with the game of his life.

Fitzgerald caught eight passes for a franchise playoff-record 166 yards and scored the type of touchdown you normally see in video games in helping the Cardinals stun the Carolina Panthers 33-13.

Incredible.

"It was huge. It was unbelievable," quarterback Kurt Warner said. "They gave us some great, favorable situations, and we always know Larry is a guy who kick-starts our offense - he's a big playmaker - and he didn't miss a play tonight."

This week, Fitzgerald was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Now he and the Cardinals will be getting ready to play in the NFC Championship Game next Sunday. .

They'll meet the winner of today's NFC divisional playoff game between the Giants and Eagles. If New York wins, the Cardinals will play at Giants Stadium. If Philadelphia wins, the Cardinals will play at home.

"I would love to see the Eagles. I think that's who everybody is pulling for," Fitzgerald said.

He also was pulling for Boldin, hoping his Pro Bowl teammate could give it a go. When he learned before game time that it wasn't going to happen, Fitzgerald shrugged his shoulders.

"My mind-set never changes, regardless of who's playing or who's not playing," he said. "You've got to go out there and perform, do your job, and make sure you're accountable."

Though it was strange that the Panthers seemed to let Fitzgerald run open routes most of the night, it's even stranger to think the Cardinals are just one victory from playing in Super Bowl XLIII.

"I'm just glad we finally won a game on the East Coast," Fitzgerald said, noting the Cardinals were 0-5 in Eastern time zones this season.

And they did it without Boldin, the man who had eight metal plates surgically placed into his busted face earlier this season and didn't take a lick of medication afterward.

Before the end of the first half, Fitzgerald pretty much put the coffin nails into the Panthers with his 29-yard touchdown, when he kept his balance down the right sideline and dove over the pylon for a 27-7 lead.

"His play gave us a ton of energy," Cardinals defensive end Antonio Smith said, adding that the normally reserved Fitzgerald also talked it up on the sideline. "Normally, he doesn't talk, and today he did. . . . Everybody felt it and turned their motor up."